98+

I was watching an old Daily Show and came across this and thought it was worth repeating.

"We share 98.5 percent of our DNA with chimps.
The other 1.5% ? Well, that's why we kill each other."

However, I have to point out that the exact percentage of common DNA is debated, especially when you take introns and 'junk' DNA into account. Oh, and chimps can be pretty mean, cannibalistic little buggers, so there's that as well.

Web+Log = Annoying Neologism

I've been wondering this for a while now, going back to the very start of the blogging movement, when I had a close friend with a publicly accessible blog. I can understand personal blogs where access is restricted just to friends, and I can understand non-personal blogs (tech, politics, etc), but I'd like to know why the personal, publicly viewable blogs/journals are attractive to those who use them. Anyone care to elucidate the matter for me?

Valentine's Day Picts

My last chance to post something contemporaneous for V-day (no, not the WWII one). The first shows 1,000 candles in front of Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse (Yokohama, Japan) as part of a promo event. Neat. I wish I had a high res picture of that, without all the annoying people in the way as well.



The second one is sweet: a touching reminder of the universality of love and the affirmation that although there may seem to be a fundamental rift between Western and Muslim culture, there are still commonalities. And that's totally a man under that burka.

Tanuki

There's a famous children's song in Japan,

Tan-tan-tanuki no kintama wa
kaze mo nai no ni:
"bu-ra" "bu-ra"

It roughly translates to "Look at the tanuki's balls. There's no wind, but they're still swinging" (bu-ra is the sound it makes). This is really the only kids song I know in Japanese, but it's all I need!

Tanuki (Nyctereutes procyonoides), commonly translated as "racoon dog", is a canid with a build that resembles a Welsh corgie, and markings that resemble a badger or racoon. Their role in Japanese folklore is pretty similar to that of kitsune ("foxes") in that they are shape shifting tricksters.

For an excellent (though animated) look at them, I recommend Heisei Tanuki Gassen Pon Poko (or just "Pom Poko"), by Studio Ghibli.

There are tanuki statues everywhere in Japan. They're often outside of businesses/restaurants, as they are for luck I believe. Here are some of the ones I've captured.